At the end of the year Cycle World choses the best motorcycles in ten categories for our Ten Best Bikes awards. Sometimes the winner is clear, but sometimes there are so many great bikes in a category it takes a few extra rides to sort out the winner. Join us as we try and determine Cycle World's Best Lightweight Streetbike of 2024.
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Subscribe to Cycle World Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/cycleworld?sub_confirmation=1
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ
Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/
Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld
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SportsTranscript
00:00All right, we're here at the Cycleworld office on a Saturday morning and that's because it's
00:22October and that means 10 best.
00:25So we've already decided most of the 10 best categories already, but when they asked me
00:30what's the best lightweight bike of 2024, I just couldn't decide right off the rip.
00:36I knew the three bikes that I had in mind, but I had to get them all together with the
00:41boys to figure out what is the best bike in the lightweight category for 2024.
00:47So I got Doug and Bradley with me right here.
00:49We've got the Triumph Speed 400 over there, Duke 390 right there, and then the track focused
00:56Aprilia RS457 right here.
00:58We're going to just go for your typical Saturday ride.
01:02We'll do freeway stuff, of course, some city kind of suburban stuff, and then get these
01:08bikes up in the twisties, wail on them a little bit, and find out what's the best lightweight
01:13bike of 2024.
01:15Let's go for it.
01:19Man, this KTM, like 70 miles per hour, and like there's a sixth gear to roll on, like
01:29passing power is pretty impressive.
01:32This thing doesn't vibrate or buzz like too much.
01:36Yeah, this Aprilia does feel good out here.
01:41It definitely has like a little bit heavier steering than the KTM, but like once you're
01:46out here, it feels really good and planted.
01:49Okay, I'm not going to lie, right off the bat, this handlebar just feels silly on this
01:53bike.
01:54If I sit where they want me to sit, the gap between me and the handlebar, which is like
02:03nothing, I'm like bolt upright.
02:05It's a compact package.
02:08There's no doubt about that.
02:10I can't really fault that because I'm just tall.
02:13Thanks, dad.
02:14You made me tall.
02:15The rider section here is pretty long.
02:18The cool thing about the Aprilia is it looks and feels like a full-size bike.
02:23I mean, riding down the freeway, getting here, it was really surprising how comfortable I
02:29was.
02:30I mean, for sure, a little bit more weight on the wrist, you're up over the front just
02:33a little bit.
02:34It does have that kind of sport bike ergos, but dimensionally, it's a bigger motorcycle.
02:39Aprilia was trying to build a bike that had that sport bike lineage, right?
02:46They've definitely succeeded in that.
02:49And then Triumph was just trying to build a comfortable roadster.
02:52Nice.
02:53Yeah, just road games.
02:54And they've accomplished that.
02:55They've totally accomplished that.
02:56I haven't had Julian Pine in a long time.
02:59Let's see if we head over there.
03:01If we find it.
03:02Pine and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, huh?
03:09So, I'd already kind of done a couple little stunt tricks on the KTM.
03:21I didn't think the Aprilia would do it so well, but it actually surprised me.
03:25You can do no stoppies, and it doesn't wheelie quite as well, but it was a pretty good little
03:29hooligan bike.
03:30The shorter rides would be better on the Aprilia.
03:33I don't find it offensive, but it's a little bit tighter than the Triumph.
03:38It's fine for me riding it right now, but if I had to do, say, 200 miles instead of
03:4450, I would probably choose the Triumph for 200 miles just because of the ergos.
03:51Yeah, the Triumph's pretty comfortable.
03:54I like the ergonomics on it.
03:57The engine doesn't quite have what the other bikes do, so it feels like you're kind of
04:02pushing the envelope of what this engine wants to do, that kind of sustained high speed.
04:07I will say, the softer seat, the plush seat, is really nice.
04:11Just made it to the lookout.
04:13You can see right there, we're on the Elsinore side of the Ortega Highway, which just recently
04:20got burned.
04:21As you can see over there, gnarly fire that just came through here recently.
04:26We all got to switch off and hop on each of the bikes, and so far, we were noticing things
04:32that are quite different.
04:33We're so different.
04:34Obviously.
04:35We kind of knew they would be different.
04:36There's some stuff that stands out on each of them, I would say, right?
04:39Yeah, for sure.
04:40And everything's different, like, ergos are different, engine character's different, like,
04:46styling obviously is different, chassis, yeah.
04:50Looking at the evolution of small bikes, I'm like, the KTM, for me, it's like a middle
04:55ground.
04:56You get so much performance to it.
04:57Yeah, for sure.
04:58It's pretty cool.
04:59I mean, it's a little bit on edge in some ways, where the Triumph doesn't have that.
05:03Riley's trying to act like the KTM is too on edge.
05:07You know how many times I've heard him say that, especially about KTMs?
05:12Come on.
05:13Let's see.
05:14Where's the motocross track?
05:15The motocross track is where?
05:16Yeah, like right there.
05:21Honestly, I feel like the KTM is, probably offers the most from my experience so far
05:26with them, but it's also very on edge in a lot of ways.
05:31The vibration, especially, the ergonomics on it, like, it's so compact.
05:36It asks a lot of the rider, relative to the category.
05:41Like, if you're a smaller rider, okay, it'd probably fit okay.
05:45I'd be curious.
05:46Yeah, I mean, it definitely feels pretty cramped, like, compared to the Triumph and the Aprilia.
05:57Me being a smaller rider, like, it doesn't really bother me so far.
06:01Peg, do your legs feel tight on the KTM?
06:04I mean, I haven't maybe spent enough time on it to, like, get that.
06:07I didn't feel that.
06:08To me, it just felt like the tank is, like, you're up on top of the tank with the bars,
06:14like, close.
06:15You're trying to turn a supermoto.
06:17Yeah, and for me, it's basically, does the Triumph have enough performance and aggression
06:21for me?
06:23Does the KTM have enough comfort for me?
06:26And then, can the Aprilia act like a good enough, just, day-to-day street bike for me?
06:31The cool thing about Julian is you've got, A, it's just like a cool, scenic town.
06:35It has a good vibe to it.
06:37And then, on the one side of Julian, like, going out, it's got, like, one of the best
06:42roads ever, Banner Grade.
06:44And it's just repaved, like, not that long ago.
06:47Yeah.
06:51Surprisingly, we made it here before the sun went down, which is unlike us.
06:55Yeah.
06:56We didn't make it for lunch, but we made it for dinner.
06:59But, pretty cool, we made it in time to meet up with our buddies, Alex and Jen, who own
07:05Quinn Knives here in Julian, which is really cool.
07:08Some folks that we know from the motorcycle industry, and they ended up here, what, it
07:11was, like, a couple years ago.
07:12Yeah, I think she said four years ago.
07:13Yeah, and bought this knife store up here in Julian.
07:22Quinn Knives, right here.
07:24Come check it out if you're in the Julian area.
07:26And now, pie.
07:28Pie.
07:29So, the bad news is, the pie's not ready yet.
07:32The big lesson today, you should come check out Julian if you get a chance.
07:36Such a cool little town, so much to see, so much good food.
07:41And it was a good ride up.
07:42Yeah.
07:43Good ride up, good times on the bikes.
07:45Yeah.
07:46Got good roads everywhere.
07:47Good roads, good for riding.
07:48That's the thing I like about coming down here.
07:50You've got those big open back roads where you can, like, test the comfort of the bikes.
07:54You're obviously riding freeways for a little bit to get down here, so you get to understand
07:57the bike's net.
07:58You've got really good pavement, tight, twisty stuff.
08:01You've got some choppy pavement.
08:02You just experience all of it.
08:04Yeah.
08:05We talked a lot about the triumph, the comfort on the big open back roads, the KTM, the agility
08:09and the really tight stuff.
08:11And then, the Aprilia is when you've got a really nice, smooth road that's, like, your
08:15proper canyon road.
08:16Like, that's where that thing shines, right?
08:19But, I think, like, probably, I don't want to speak for you guys, but, like, I think
08:22one of my big takeaways from the day is not just looking at what all the bikes do well,
08:27but what the bikes don't do well.
08:29Yeah.
08:30Like, where the shortcomings are.
08:31I think that's a good measurement of these bikes.
08:33And, yeah, I think, in my opinion, I think we keep going back to, I would probably say
08:38the KTM has the most shortcomings.
08:40I know we talked about that a little bit on the ride over, right?
08:42Mm-hmm.
08:43Yeah.
08:44Yeah.
08:45It's a tighter package.
08:46It's smaller.
08:47It's more compact.
08:48It's a little bit more sensitive.
08:49It's very agile, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but, you know, overall, in the
08:54big picture...
08:55Yeah.
08:56It's not to say they're bad motorcycles.
08:58Like, the whole point of the reason we talked about this earlier, the reason why we have
09:01these motorcycles is because they're all, like, the cream of the crop within the category.
09:04We're trying to find out which is the best.
09:06So, like, yeah, we're talking about maybe some negatives here and there, but, like, let's
09:09be honest, none of it makes...
09:11They're all strong motorcycles.
09:12These things have so many strengths.
09:13It's crazy.
09:14Yeah.
09:15Like, I really just like that KTM.
09:17No, it's not very...
09:19It's the least comfortable.
09:20Yeah.
09:21It's the most kind of on-edge, twitchy bike.
09:24Yeah.
09:25But it just...
09:26But that's just, like, it's you.
09:28It's me.
09:29It's you stopping us.
09:30We're not gonna tell you the answer yet.
09:32Wait for 10 Best to come out.
09:34Watch videos, read reviews, because damn near every bike these days is pretty dangerous.
09:40We're gonna get our bellies full of popcorn.
09:42There's cheese pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie.
09:44Don't have a pie.
09:46Well, I guess that's it then, right?
09:47That's it.
09:48Thank you guys for tuning in.
09:49We'll see you on the next one.
09:54Where are you going?
09:55Don't want some circle track with me?
09:59Come circle track with me.
10:11Alright.
10:20I can't back it in.
10:36That little off camber right there is hard.
10:40You gotta really take advantage of it right there.